A Similar Beginning
by ktodd02
Summary: Jim and Pam move across the country to Colorado with their two children, only to discover a shocking surprise- Michael Scott and Holly Flax are their new next door neighbors. What they thought would be a fresh, new start begins to become eerily similar to old life.
Katy Todd

Fan Fiction

 _Beep beep beep._ Jim slowly comes to a drowsy awakened state.

 _Beep beep beep._ The alarm continues to blare aloud in an attempt to fully awaken both Jim and Pam on this quiet, peaceful Saturday morning.

 _Beep beep beep._ Jim thrusts his hand onto the table to silent the alarm.

"Pam," Jim whispers, "it's time to get up."

Pam rolls away from Jim and buries her face into her pillow.

"I'd really rather not," she says slightly disgruntled.

"I know, I feel the same way. But we have a big day ahead of us and have to get the kids ready to go. I'll go get Cece and Philip up and feed them breakfast."

"You're the absolute best husband in the world."

"And you're the absolute best wife in the world."

Jim kisses Pam on the forehead, gets up, and throws on an old T-shirt out of the small pile of clothes that hasn't been packed away in the massive amount of boxes. He walks down the hallway, dodging even more boxes along his way. He slips into Philip's room and quietly wakes him up.

Jim whispers, "Hey buddy, time to wake up, it's the big day." The toddler slowly wakes up. He sits up a bit and looks around. Cece comes running into the room.

"It's moving day!" she exclaims. "Let's go, let's go, let's go! I can't wait to get there and see what our new house looks like! I call the biggest bedroom."

"Oh that's today daddy, isn't it?" Philip says to Jim, his face lighting up with excitement.

"It sure is guys! So let's head downstairs and get some breakfast before the movers get here."

Both of the children sprint out of the room and down the stairs. Pam comes out into the hallway that Jim is walking down and smiles to herself as she looks around.

"It's really happening, isn't it?" she says with an emotional smile.

"It really is. I hope that this move to Colorado is the right call for our family," Jim says.

"I know it's scary. But I honestly know that this is what we need. This new job you have there is going to bring so much to your career and Colorado is a great place to raise a family. Just know that we'll always have each other and as long as we have each other, everything will be okay."

"You're right, thank you," Jim says smiling at Pam. "Let's go get our crazy kids ready to go now, it's almost time to get going."

 _Knock knock knock._

Jim and Pam are attempting to sleep in on their first day in their new house when they are awakened by this obnoxious knocking.

 _Knock knock knock._

"Who in the world could that be at this hour?" Pam mumbles into her pillow.

"I have no idea," Jim says slightly irritated. "Maybe if we don't get up, they'll just leave."

 _Knock knock knock._

"Oh my gosh, this is ridiculous," Jim says as he rolls out of bed to see who the obnoxious person at the door could be. He walks downstairs and opens the door fully ready to go off on a complete stranger for waking him up so early. However, the last person on the planet he planned on seeing on his doorstep stood right in front of him as the door swung open. Michael Scott.

Michael's face looked absolutely stunned and he could barely even speak. "Jim! I can't believe this! You and Pam are Holly and I's new next door neighbors!" Jim couldn't even speak as he just stood there in shock. Michael leaps at Jim and embraces him while laughing uncontrollably.

"Are you kidding me, you and Holly live next door?" Jim says in awe.

"We sure do! We saw that we had new neighbors that were moving in yesterday and I thought that I would stop by and welcome them to the neighborhood and I still cannot believe that it's you and Pam! And your two children, oh my gosh! They can be friends with Kyle!"

"Wait who is Kyle?"

"Oh wow, it's been so long since we have caught up! That's Holly and I's son!"

"This is crazy, is this a dream? I need to go get Pam," Jim says still confused. "I'll be right back."

"Okay! I'll just wait here."

Jim scrambles upstairs and bursts into the room where Pam is sleeping. Pam shoots up and is a bit alarmed as to why Jim is so frantic.

"Jim, what is going on? Is everything okay, who was at the door?" Pam asks.

"Funny you ask," Jim says as he paces the room. "So you know Michael Scott, like our old boss?"

"Um yes of course."

"Yeah so he's our next door neighbor and he lives there with Holly and they have this son Kyle and they live feet away from us now-"

"What?! Stop, you are delusional, this can't be correct."

"Oh but it is! Come see for yourself." Jim drags Pam out of bed and has her follow him downstairs to the door frame where Michael is standing.

"Holy shit, you're right," Pam whispers to herself.

"Pam! Oh my gosh hello!" Michael squeals as he goes to hug Pam. "I can't believe this is happening!"

"You and I both," Pam says, "Where is Holly?"

"She's at the store with Kyle, but she'll be home later. You guys should come over for dinner! We would love to have you," Michael exclaimed.

Pam and Jim exchange some glances and Pam finally responds, "of course, we would love to!"

"Okay great!" Michael says while smiling. "I can't wait to catch up with you and your kids!"

"Oh yes, it will be quite an interesting time," Pam says. There is a bit of an awkward pause as Michael just kind of lingers. "Okay, well see you tonight!"

"Yeah, sounds great! Have a good day!"

Jim closes the door and looks at Pam in disbelief. "What is happening?" Jim asks.

"I know about as much as you do, but I guess we'll find out tonight."

 _Ding dong._

Jim, Pam, and their two children are standing on Michael and Holly's doorstep ready to have dinner with their family. All of a sudden a child comes sprinting to the door screaming.

"They're here, they're here!" exclaims Kyle. Holly and Michael approach the door and answer it excitedly and Kyle runs onto the doorstep and embraces Cece and Philip.

"Oh Kyle, remember, we don't hug new people," Holly says to him as she pulls him away from Cece and Philip. "Sorry about that, he's going through a phase where he really likes hugging strangers" she says to Jim and Pam.

Pam is a little confused but eventually just says, "Oh it's fine, it happens."

"But it is so great to see you guys! It's been so long!" Holly reaches in for a hug from Pam.

"Oh it's so great to see you too!" Pam exclaims.

There is a little bit of an awkward pause as everyone just stands and looks at each other and Michael finally says, "Okay well let's go on in! We can begin preparing for dinner!" So everyone joins in behind him, and they all head to the dining room. Once they get there, Jim and Pam notice a small issue- dinner doesn't seem to have even been started to be prepared yet.

"Alright, so who wants to help me start dinner?" Holly asks. Jim and Pam exchange glances as they realize that they may be in for an extremely long night.

"What exactly is left to be done?" Pam asks as politely as she can.

"Oh well Holly and I thought it would be a good idea if we all made dinner together, like a group effort," Michael states.

"Okay…then let's see what we can do to get going," Jim says a little uneasily.

"Yes, that's a great start!" Holly says. She turns to Kyle, leans down and whispers, "why don't you show Cece and Philip the basement and you guys can play while the grown-ups make dinner."

"Okay!" Kyle shouts while jumping up and down. "Come on, follow me," and the three children are led downstairs by Kyle.

"So to the kitchen!" says Michael while him and Holly start to walk towards there.

"What are we going to do about this?" Pam whispers to Jim. "We're going to be here for literally forever and I definitely don't want that. The kids will need sleep soon!"

"I know, I don't think that there is a real easy way to escape this one. We honestly just need to cook as fast as possible." They walk into the kitchen only to realize that Holly and Michael want to use a slow cooker to cook the chicken.

"I heard that using a slow cooker really helps retain the moisture in the meat so I think that's the best call here," Holly says.

Jim and Pam look at each other nervously and finally Pam chimes in, "Oh you know, we grill our chicken all the time and it's just as good, if not better! And it cooks way faster."

Michael laughs and says, "Oh no need to worry about time, we have all night!" Jim and Pam laugh uneasily while glancing at each other trying to figure out what to say next.

"It's just that Philip really likes to be in bed at an early time to make sure he gets enough sleep. Otherwise he's just a little cranky in the morning, and we certainly don't want that!" Jim says.

"I don't get cranky! I don't ever really need sleep," says Philip angrily. Jim hadn't seen him come upstairs and didn't know Philip was behind him.

"See! It's all good!" says Michael. "Now what did you come up here for, buddy?"

"Just to use the bathroom." Michael goes to show Philip where the bathroom is and Holly starts to put the chicken in the slow cooker. Pam sees what's happening and tries to politely stop her.

"Oh, so did we decide for sure on the slow cooker?" Pam says in hopes of swaying Holly's decision.

"I think it will really work out just fine. Then we have plenty of time to catch up! Let me just go grab some seasoning from the panty." Holly then leaves to find the seasoning.

Pam looks at Jim with wide, concerned eyes about what is happening. She expressively asks, "What are we going to do? I cannot stay here for almost 6 hours, I just cannot handle it for that long. We need an escape plan."

"I know, but I don't even know what to say! Maybe one of us could pretend to be sick? Is that wrong?"

"No, that's a great idea! How about you pretend to have a stomach ache and that you can't stay?"

"Okay," whispers Jim, "I feel a little bad but we can't be here until midnight that just won't work. We can just suggest going out to dinner sometime."

"That's a fantastic idea." Jim and Pam can start to hear Michael and Holly come down the hallway. "Okay, get ready." Michael and Holly enter the kitchen walking like robots.

"Hello earthlings, we have captured you here in our kitchen to feed you," Holly says in a robot voice.

"Oh wow," Pam says while fake laughing politely. "You two really haven't changed much at all."

"It's just like old times!" Michael says.

"Sure is," Jim mutters. There is a bit of an awkward pause. "Well unfortunately, I have a killer stomachache and just don't think I'm going to be able to stay for dinner. The kids, Pam and I should really get headed out, I don't want to get anyone else sick."

"Oh no," says Michael sadly, "what a shame."

"I know, we feel so bad. We really appreciate you two offering dinner tonight, we should go out to eat another night for sure!" Pam says.

"Yes of course! It really is too bad you can't stay," Holly says.

"I know," says Jim, "it was looking really fun. Next time though!" He heads to the top of the stairs to call Cece and Philip up from the basement. The kids come upstairs and Kyle says goodbye to the Halpert children.

"Bye, it was nice to meet you. We should play again sometime."

"Yeah, that would be fun!" Cece says. She takes Philip's hand and starts to lead him towards the door.

"Okay, well let's get going. Thanks again for having us! Sorry we had to cut things short, we should go out to dinner sometime to make up for it," Pam says as she ushers Cece and Philip out the door.

"No problem. And we should! You all have a nice night, feel better Jim!" Holly says.

"Yeah, have a good night!" Michael says from the doorstep.

"Thanks, goodnight!" Jim yells back from the sidewalk. He turns to Pam and whispers, "Wow, we really dodged a bullet there. Next time, we have to make sure to go to a restaurant so we don't get trapped next time."

Pam laughs and says, "Yes, we have really learned how to safely socialize with Michael and Holly."

Cece and Philip run up ahead to the Halpert's front sidewalk, giggling and having fun. Jim wraps his arm around Pam and they follow their children into their new home. They realize that they now have to learn yet again how to live with Michael Scott's shenanigans right by their side, but they wouldn't have it any other way.


End file.
